Recent Developments in Mechanochemical Materials Synthesis by Extrusion

TLDR

Mechanochemical synthesis, performed by grinding solid reactants without solvent, offers an efficient route to organic and inorganic compounds and is an alternative to conventional chemical synthesis, yet it is often overlooked in fine‑chemical manufacturing; extrusion, a continuous mechanochemical technique, is increasingly applied in food, polymer, and pharmaceutical production, providing insights that can be transferred to the chemical industry. The paper reviews recent advances in mechanochemical synthesis using continuous extrusion to demonstrate its advantages for manufacturing fine chemicals. Extrusion is employed as a continuous mechanochemical method that grinds reactants together, enabling scalable synthesis of fine chemicals. Extrusion enables the synthesis of metal‑organic frameworks with space‑time yields three orders of magnitude higher than conventional solvothermal methods.

Abstract

Mechanochemical synthesis, i.e., reactions conducted by grinding solid reactants together with no or minimal solvent, has been demonstrated as an excellent technique for the formation of both organic and inorganic compounds. Mechanochemistry is viewed as an alternative approach to chemical synthesis and is not always considered when developing manufacturing processes of fine chemicals. Here, recent advances are highlighted regarding mechanochemical synthesis, by utilizing a well‐developed continuous technique – extrusion, and the advantages it offers to further support its use in the manufacturing of these chemicals. To put this work into context, it is shown how extrusion plays a vital role for manufacturing in the food, polymer, and pharmaceutical industries, and how the research carried out by these respective industrialists provides great insight and understanding of the technique, with the results being applicable in the chemical industry. The synthesis of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) is highlighted herein as an excellent example showcasing the advantages that extrusion provides to the manufacture of these materials, one advantage being the exceptional space time yields (STYs) reported for these processes, at three orders of magnitude greater than conventional (solvothermal) synthesis.